Town crier 'dropped over keenness to promote city'

The 70-year-old took up the voluntary role earlier this year

Hereford’s official town crier has been relieved from the post because he has been too keen to promote the city, he claims.

Terrence Mullett, of Leintwardine, took up the voluntary position earlier this year and went on to ask Hereford City Council to agree to let him attend numerous events around the country.

But the council has now released him from the voluntary position “with immediate effect”, saying his expectation did not align with the authority.

Whilst the council supported efforts to promote Hereford, a spokesperson said, it "could not justify the requested costs for Terry’s promotional ideas".

Mr Mullett said he took pride in the role, which he said would be good for the city and its economy.

"We need to bring people into Hereford," the the former serviceman and builder said.

'Impeded my efforts'

He said he received more than 20 invitations to attend events in other parts of the country, including town crier competitions.

But his requests to attend on the city’s behalf the events, which were also to mark special occasions such as the anniversary of the king’s coronation and the 80th anniversary of D-day, were rebuffed, he said.

Last month, he complained about what he said was the council's “lack of cooperation and communication” that "impeded my efforts to serve and promote our city effectively”.

Then, at the start of this month, he was told his “expectations for this voluntary role do not align with that of Hereford City Council”, and he was dropped from the post.

“The town crier is a minor ceremonial position featuring at only a handful of events each year. Often this position will go unfilled," the council said.

“While we support any efforts to promote tourism in Hereford, the town crier doesn’t typically fill that role.

"Unfortunately, we couldn’t justify the requested costs for Terry’s promotional ideas, and his vision about what role the town crier should play didn’t align with the tradition.”

'Usually no spectators'

The city council has lately been moving away from its more archaic customs.

In March, councillors unanimously agreed to drop the tradition of having the city mayor attend council meetings in ceremonial clothing and chain of office, apart from during the annual “mayor-making” in May.

They also voted to drop the mayor’s officer “processing in the state sword” and the holding of prayers at the start of meetings.

“The pomp and ceremony were intended in the past to impress spectators, but there usually aren’t any,” the minutes of the meeting recorded.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.